Youth Personality Types

Dr. G. Keith Olson, in his book entitled: "Why Teenagers Act the Way They Do" outlines some personality types of youth.

1. The Power Oriented and 2. Competitive

The power-oriented personality needs to see self in control of lives.  The competitive personality chooses competition as the primary way of relating to others and has extreme narcism.  The primary difference between competitive and power-oriented personalities is the use of power.  The power oriented personality uses power to develop skills for maturation and growth, but the competitive personality uses power against others to enhance him/her-self.

3. Aggressive and 4. Rebellious

The aggressive personality attempts to push others away and position itself against others and seeks to cause them pain and psychological injury.  The rebellious personality wants to push others away or withdraw from social experience, but unlike the aggressive personalty he/she is not interested in revenge.  The self-demeaning personality has a lack of belief in him/her-self and is submissive and practices passive withdrawal.

5. Dependent and 6. Conforming

The dependent personality prefers to rely on someone else who will assume responsibility or adopt the leadership role because he/she fears he/she will be inadequate or fail if he/she was to have that role.

The conforming-personality seeks to reduce anxious feelings by being accepted and liked and may sacrifice too much of him/her-self in an attempt to gain the acceptance of others.  The responsible personality is as close to the social ideal as adolescents get and is a blend of power oriented and conforming personalities that follows through with commitments and respects authority.